Asset owners remain positive about sustainable investment

Japanese media has been covering the evolving political landscape with respect to sustainable investment. But will media sentiment and greenwashing concerns cause asset owners to scale back on ESG investment?

We look to the FTSE Russell Sustainable Investment Asset Owner 2024 survey to dig into the details.

The latest Japanese ESG indices and passive investment report, written in collaboration with SGX

Each quarter, we review the development of Japan’s sustainability standards, the ESG performance of Japanese listed companies compared to the broad-market index, and the growth of index-linked SGX FTSE Blossom Japan Index Futures.

Our latest edition of the Japanese sustainable investment and futures report explores the positive outlook for sustainable investment regulation, passive sustainable investment strategies and FTSE Blossom index performance.

Key highlights from this quarter’s analysis:

• Despite the changing global political landscape and rising concerns about greenwashing, our survey suggests that the global appetite for sustainable investment solutions remains strong, particularly among institutional investors.
• Both Blossom Japan and Blossom Sector Relative indices reported outperforming their benchmark, FTSE Japan All Cap Index, on both a quarterly basis and an annual basis in 2024.
• SGX FTSE Blossom Japan Index Futures remain the contract of choice for Japan ESG derivatives, with a 98% market share in Open Interest (USD notional terms).